Party Animals is a party game with up to eight players completing three modes across 23 maps, each with a hazard thrown at you. You either work as a duo in a mode called Last Stand or work in a squad of four in Team Score and The Lab. Sounds basic, but did I mention how you can punch, drop kick, headbutt and wack your opponents with weapons?
To add chaos to this adorable furry game, players have the chance to attack each other to win rounds or give you an advantage but have to use it carefully as it can backfire against your teammate, with the control being wobbly on purpose to fuel the chaotic energy. The more I describe the game, you may be thinking about another game in this manner called Gang Beast, Fall Guys, or Pummel Party as they are similar, but Party Animals does a great job of diverging itself with unique game modes and maps, and giving the spectators a chance to sabotage the other team to help their partner or just for the fun of it.
The first and biggest game mode I will be going over is the Last Stand, which is like Battle Royale. Each duo must fight to remain the last one standing by any means necessary while dealing with the hazards in the 11 maps that are thrown at you. Some of the hazards the players will be dealing with are the rising sea level on the Typhoon, staying warm in Winter is Coming, remaining on the bridges as it breaks apart, holding on to an object for your dear life before being sucked into a black hole in the Blackhole Lab, and many more.
Honestly, my favourite map in the Last Stand mode is the Blackhole Lab, as it is hectic fighting against everyone and dragging someone with me to the black hole to make sure my partner wins the game. Overall it is a very fun game mode you will be coming back to time and time again.
“Party Animals does a great job of diverging itself with unique game modes and maps and giving the spectators a chance to sabotage the other team to help their partner or just for the fun of it.”
The second game mode is Team Score, a squad of four working together in sports or tasks. It’s pretty basic yet fun, as each team must score the most they can under a time limit, and the game mode has 10 maps. Covering the sports section of the mode first, there is Buzz Ball, Beast Hockey, Beast Football, and Beast Soccer. These are very simple maps, as the main objective is to take the balls to the opposite side to score points in each round.
Then there are the tasks, and they are not based on rounds but on how much you bring back to your base under a time limit. My favourite map in the mode is Beast Football, as there were too many times I grabbed my teammate to the goal pole alongside my team member carrying the football. It was always funny to me.
The last game mode is The Lab (formally known as The Arcade), a squad of four fighting against another squad as each team has nine lives. This game mode only has two maps, the Winter Cabin and Final Destination, but they are not available in the quick play option, only custom as they are a beta.
The map that stood out to me was the Final Destination, as it takes place in a subway tunnel and reminds me a lot of my time playing Gang Beast. The only downside to The Lab is barely anyone is playing it online and you won’t be able to play Winter Cabin with bots if you would like to get the feel for it but that shouldn’t stop you if you play the maps with your friends online.
Although Party Animals is quite fun, the game isn’t perfect, as I do have some minor issues. Sometimes, the matches drag on too long. I ran into this issue when playing Beast Soccer, as it was difficult to kick the ball while everyone was busy rushing each other. It turned into an annoyance as the ball would be near the goal but then blast to the opposite, just for that to repeat until the match ended with a draw. Another issue I ran into playing Party Animals was how repetitive it could get. The maps can feel similar, like a reskin of other maps.
From a technical standpoint, the physics are very good and similar to Gang Beast and the character’s fur is detailed and stands out. What I like about Party Animals is the massive roster of animals you can play as household pets, dinosaurs, fairytale creatures, and sharks, with many unique unlockable outfits. The outfits could be obtained by playing the game to earn Nemo Bucks for surprised eggs or by purchasing outfits straight from the shop with Nemo Bucks and Cookies.
The version of the game I played was the Deluxe Edition on Steam. It comes with sets of outfits, avatars, Cookies, and Nemo Bucks to get you started. Despite there being a standard and deluxe version of the game, you can’t go wrong with either copy as they won’t provide an advantage and the deluxe is more for those who would like more bang for the buck.
Alongside playing on the PC, I tried the game on the Steam Deck to see how it felt. With the game being Steam Deck Verified, it is playable but runs into frame drop for some maps if playing at 60 fps. For a solid frame rate to avoid input delays and slow down, I recommend playing at 30 fps to be safe so the frame drop doesn’t cause you to lose the game. Another tip I recommend is switching the A input to jump and the Y input to kick. Otherwise, the visuals look good but sometimes are blurry due to FSR 2 being enabled.
Party Animals is a chaotic yet adorable game I recommend playing with friends or randoms online. It is a fun game filled with memorable moments as you explore the modes and maps, with tons of weapons to utilize against other players and gimmicks to learn for each map. That being said, it could be a little repetitive or drag on for too long, depending on the map.
